Town Randonnee race series kicks off this week

Green boots and speed suits not required

The local randonnee race series is back this winter and better than ever, with six races starting Thanksgiving Day.
The race series is the brainchild of local skier, member of the U.S. Ski Mountaineering (a.k.a. randonnee) team and COSMIC series champion Bryan Wickenhauser. Three years ago Wickenhauser approached Crested Butte Mountain Resort with the idea and it has taken off ever since.
“They’ve been extremely receptive,” says Wickenhauser. “It looks like it’s gaining momentum.”
Randonnee racing involves climbing up on skis, tearing off your skins and then skiing down anywhere from two to five times in one race.
For any fledgling rando racers out there, the local series is a great way to get yourself in shape, test out your new hip and/or gear as well as find the red line and push past it to get a glimmer of what the local hammerheads put themselves through every week.
For the seasoned rando racer, the local series offers a great opportunity to work on transitions to prepare for the COSMIC series and get some key blasts of intense vertical in preparation for the Grand Traverse.
Either way, participants are offered a good lung stretch and leg pump with rec and race classes available.
According to Wickenhauser, the rec class will do two laps for approximately 800 feet of climbing and descending, while the race class will do three laps and closer to 1,100 feet of climbing.
“We’re not going to be climbing to the top of the Silver Queen every lap,” says Wickenhauser. “They’ll be short little hot laps.”
While in past years the races were held at 4:30 p.m. on the resort, this year Wickenhauser and the resort will put on three of the six races at 7:30 a.m. before the lifts start spinning.
“People love dawn patrol and then hit the schnapps afterwards,” says Wickenhauser.
This Thanksgiving will be one such early morning race, seizing upon the enthusiasm of similar events across the country.
“In the big cities everyone does a 5K Turkey Trot, so I thought let’s do a rando race early before the football games and dinner,” explains Wickenhauser.
Registration for the races will be held in the Elevation Hotel 30 minutes before the race and is $10, which includes the entry fee and post-race refreshments.
“It’s the best and local way to race at a somewhat more civilized level,” says Wickenhauser.
Series schedule
November 25     7:30 a.m.
December 16     7:30 p.m.
January 20    4:30 p.m.
February 10    7:30 a.m.
March 3    4:30 p.m.
March 24    4:30 p.m.